Best Places In The World To Retire

Mexico is a Spanish-speaking country.  In the tourist areas, everyone from waiters to shop attendants to taxi drivers will speak at least some English.  However, outside of these areas, many Americans and Canadians are surprised to discover that the average ´man on the street´ doesn´t speak English.  

 

Here in Mexico City, educated people will speak at least some English, and many will be fluent.  However, most of...

Mexico is a Spanish-speaking country.  In the tourist areas, everyone from waiters to shop attendants to taxi drivers will speak at least some English.  However, outside of these areas, many Americans and Canadians are surprised to discover that the average ´man on the street´ doesn´t speak English.  

 

Here in Mexico City, educated people will speak at least some English, and many will be fluent.  However, most of transactions you will need to do on a daily basis will require you to speak some Spanish.  No one at my local bank branch, for example, speaks English.  No one at the supermarket, at the department store, or at the pharmacy I go to speaks English either. I cannot call the cable company or any utility company and expect help in English. In smaller towns or rural areas (outside of the tourist zones), even fewer people will speak English.

 

Can you get by if you only speak English?  Certainly you can very easily if you are in tourist areas or other areas where expats tend to live.  You can also manage even in areas where most people don´t speak English if you are just interested in ´getting by.” I know people who have lived here for 15 years and still speak almost no Spanish.  I suppose the question is would you want just ´get by´?  Learning the local language makes life here so much more rewarding a full – it means you can make Mexican friends, learn about Mexican culture, and navigate daily life without help.   It can be challenging at first, but you will find that people are very helpful when they know you are trying to learn Spanish!

 

The best beaches in Belize are located in three parts of the country: San Pedro, Caye Caulker, and my home, which is Placencia.

 

I have lived near the sea all my life.

 

If you want white sandy beaches (coral sand), you need to go to the Islands like San Pedro and Caye Caulker. If you want the golden river sand, that is definitely Placencia.  On a clear sunny day our sand is also white, but we do get the chance to have a...

The best beaches in Belize are located in three parts of the country: San Pedro, Caye Caulker, and my home, which is Placencia.

 

I have lived near the sea all my life.

 

If you want white sandy beaches (coral sand), you need to go to the Islands like San Pedro and Caye Caulker. If you want the golden river sand, that is definitely Placencia.  On a clear sunny day our sand is also white, but we do get the chance to have a golden sandy beach. 

The voltage here in Portugal is the same as you have in the States, and unlike England where you have 3 plugs.  You can take the hair drier you use in the US and plug it right into the wall in Portugal and it will work, whereas, if you take your hair drier from the US to Portugal, you will need an adapter.

 

Previously if you put a washing machine on and a hair dryer everything would blow up because the homes couldn’t accommodate too much of an...

The voltage here in Portugal is the same as you have in the States, and unlike England where you have 3 plugs.  You can take the hair drier you use in the US and plug it right into the wall in Portugal and it will work, whereas, if you take your hair drier from the US to Portugal, you will need an adapter.

 

Previously if you put a washing machine on and a hair dryer everything would blow up because the homes couldn’t accommodate too much of an electrical demand. Now it’s not like that because the electrical boards have been updated.

 

It’s taken a while for money to be in Portugal.  Things that you have now are a lot more top range and sophisticated than it used to be.

 

(Old style wood burning stove in a Portuguese kitchen, pictured.)